This invention relates in general to vehicle seats, and in particular to a recliner mechanism for a vehicle seat.
Virtually all vehicles, such as automobiles and other passenger vehicles employ seats in the interior compartment of the vehicles. The seats are useful to support passengers being transported in the vehicles in relative safety and comfort. The seats are often positioned in rows, most passenger vehicles having two or three rows of seats. Some passenger vehicles, such as vans and sport utility-type vehicles, include multiple rows of seating within the interior of the vehicle. Often, these vehicles include a first or front row of seats for a driver and passenger, and one or more rows of rear seats behind the front row. The seats generally include a generally horizontal seat bottom and a seat back extending generally vertically upward from the seat bottom.
It is generally desirable to temporarily remove the rear seats or position the rear seats into a storage position to create more cargo room in the interior of the vehicle. For example, some rear seats have seat backs which are pivotally mounted relative to the seat bottom. The seat backs can be pivoted forwardly to a storage position so that the seat back is in a generally horizontal position resting above the seat bottom. Typically, the seats includes a latch mechanism to maintain the seat back in its upright position. To move the seat back to its storage position, a handle is typically operated releasing the latch mechanism and permitting the seat back to pivot forwardly to its storage position. To assist in pivoting the seat back to its storage position, the seat can include a spring connected between the seat bottom and seat back which biases the seat back to its storage position. Thus, when the handle is operated to release the latch mechanism, the spring will automatically pivot the seat back from the upright position to the storage position.
It is also becoming increasingly more common in passenger vehicles, such as sport utility vehicles and mini-vans, to include a third row seat or seats. Commonly, the vehicle includes a pair of front doors and a pair of rear doors located adjacent the front and second row of seats, respectively. The third row seat is commonly located at the generally furthermost rear portion of the vehicle and is not located adjacent a door opening. Thus, passengers do not have direct access to the third row seat. To provide access to the third row seat or a rear storage area, it is known to have one or more of the second row seat assemblies movable to a forwardly folded position adjacent the front row of seats. The second row seat assembly is folded such that the seat back is first folded downwardly on top of the seat bottom, and then both are pivoted about a pivot point at a lower front edge of the seat bottom to approximately 90 degrees. The seat back of the second row seat assembly will then be positioned between the seat bottom and the seat back of the front row seat. The passenger can then enter the vehicle via one of the rear doors, and slip past the folded second row seat assembly, thereby permitting access to the third row seat. To assist in pivoting the seat back to its storage position and or folded position, the seat can also include a spring connected between the seat bottom and seat back which biases the seat back to its storage position.
For both of the above described circumstances when it is desired to move the seat back from its upright position to at least a storage position resting above the seat bottom, the spring is utilized to automatically pivot the seat back so that the operator of the seat does not have to manually move the seat back. In some cases, the spring force generated by the spring must be relatively high to overcome the weight of the seat back and/or the frictional forces of the recliner mechanism. Due to this large spring force and relatively fast motion of the seat back, the seat back may bounce back upwards once it initially contacts the seat bottom due to the inherent springiness of the cushions of the seat back and seat bottom. Although the relatively large spring force may be required to adequately move the seat back, this bounce back is generally undesirable by the consumers of the vehicle.